NEW JERSEY COURT STOPS ABORTION-NOTIFICATION LAW

TRENTON, N.J. -- The New Jersey Supreme Court Tuesday struck down a state abortion law that required girls younger than 18 to notify their parents before terminating a pregnancy. By a 4-2 vote, the state high court ruled that parental rights did not supersede an adolescent girl's right to an abortion and that the law's parental-notification requirement violated a state constitutional mandate guaranteeing minors equal protection under the law. The law was signed by Republican Gov. Christine Todd Whitman in June 1999 but never took effect because of legal challenges. Legal experts said an appeal was unlikely.